Aftermath
About this audiobook
It's 2026, and catastrophe has struck from an unexpected source. The Alpha Centauri supernova has risen like a second sun, rushing Earth toward its last summer. Floods, fires, starvation, and disease paralyze the planet. In a blue aurora flash of gamma rays, all microchips worldwide are destroyed, leaving an already devastated Earth without communications, transportation, weaponry, or medicine.
The disaster sets three groups of survivors on separate quests. A militant cult seizes the opportunity to free their leader, known as the Eye of God, from the long-term coma to which a court sentenced her. Three cancer patients also search for a man in judicial sleep: the brilliant scientist—and monstrous criminal—who alone can continue the experimental treatment that keeps them alive. From a far greater distance come the survivors of the first manned Mars expedition, struggling homeward to a world that has changed far beyond their darkest fears. And standing at the crossroads is one man, US President Saul Steinmetz, who faces a crucial decision that will affect the fate of his own people—and the world.
About the author
Charles Sheffield (1935–2002) was a mathematician, physicist, and author of both nonfiction and science fiction. For his novel Brother to Dragons, he won the 1992 John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel. He won the Nebula Award in 1993 and the Hugo Award in 1994 for his novelette Georgia on My Mind. He was a president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and of the American Astronautical Society. He served as chief scientist of Earth Satellite Corporation, a company that processed remote sensing satellite data. He was a distinguished lecturer of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and a board member of the National Space Society. Born and educated in England, he held bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics and a doctorate in theoretical physics.
Gary Dikeos is a voice actor and audiobook narrator living in Los Angeles. In addition to narrating audiobooks, he voices television commercials, documentaries, and animation projects.
